Coercive Power Dynamics on Social Media and Threats to Democracy


Allison Koh



Digital Democracy Lab, University of Zurich
December 16, 2022

Current Research

Grey Areas of Digital Transnational Repression on Global Media Platforms

How do globally accessible media attacks targeting diaspora regime critics benefit repressive governments?


They subjugate key actors in transnational information flows.

How do globally accessible media attacks targeting diaspora regime critics benefit repressive governments?


They can subtly evade consequences on the global stage.

  • Platform features
    • State-affiliated labels \(\rightarrow\) attribution
  • Power dynamics and nationalist themes
    • Gender: Women* easier to attack
    • Language “of the oppressor”
  • Case study: Toxicity on Pro-CCP Twitter

How do globally accessible media attacks targeting diaspora regime critics benefit repressive governments?


They can strategically limit the spread of information on domestic state repression.

  • Adding “noise” to the transnational information environment
  • In the midst of increased global awareness of domestic repression, pro-CCP attacks…
    • \(\uparrow\) coordination
    • \(\uparrow\) volume
    • \(\downarrow\) topical focus
  • Setting: Pro-CCP Twitter, ~2013-2022

Contributions




  • A target-centered approach to studying pro-government media attacks on the global stage is essential to understanding its implications—especially for democracies.
  • Diaspora regime critics are uniquely threatening to regimes, which is why they are often targets of pro-government media attacks on global platforms.
  • This is the first work that applies computational methods to a genre of research that typically uses qualitative methods and interviews.

Research Agenda for PRODIGI

Implications of Anti-LGBTQ+ Rhetoric for Digital Democracy

Anti-LGBTQ+ Politics in the Digital Sphere

The global alt-right “blames the gays” to promote their political agendas on social media.

Source: Metro Weekly Source: Metro Weekly

:::

Social Media \(\leftrightarrow\) Anti-LGBTQ+ Organizing

Mechanisms through which social media could accelerate anti-LGBTQ+ organizing include:

  • Political Agenda Setting
    • Political Elites \(\leftrightarrow\) Civilians
    • U.S. \(\leftrightarrow\) Other Countries
  • Cross-Sectoral Coalition Building
    • Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists (TERFs) \(\leftrightarrow\) the Radical Right

Research Questions

WP1: Theory Development

Which policy frames arise from
online anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric?

Are some political elites more responsive to
online anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric than others?

WP2: Computational Methods

Do anti-LGBTQ+ policy frames discussed by U.S. users spread to other countries?



WP3: Policy Responses

Are policy frames with combined online support from disparate groups more likely to spread to the political agenda?

WP4: Effect on Public Opinion

Do social media \(\rightarrow\) political agenda policy frames have a stronger effect on opinions?

Do policy frames with support from disparate groups have a stronger effect on opinions?

Collaborations at the University of Zurich

PRODIGI

  • Theory Development \(\leftrightarrow\) Computational Methods
  • Policy responses in the U.S.
  • Content moderation

Digital Democracy Lab

  • Political agenda setting
  • Cross-platform data

Digital Society Initiative

  • DSI Community Democracy
  • Data Donation Lab

Thank you!

koh@hertie-school.org

https://allisonkoh.github.io/

@allisonwkoh@mastodon.social

@allisonkoh_

References

Al-Jizawi, Noura, S. Antis, S. Chan, A. Senft, and R. J. Deibert. 2020. “Digital Transnational Repression.” The Citizen Lab. https://citizenlab. ca/2020/11/annotated ….
Jowett, Garth S., and Victoria O’donnell. 2018. Propaganda & Persuasion. Sage publications.
Ritholtz, Samuel, Allison Koh, and Anita Gohdes. 2022. “Fanning the Flames of Hate: The Transnational Diffusion of Online Anti-LGBT+ Rhetoric and Offline Mobilisation.” GNET.